Temperatures are rising. Resorts are closed. Snow is slowly disappearing. Summertime is just around the corner. If you’re brain has switched out of snow mode and your ready to switch gears into mountain biking, hiking, alpine climbing, rock climbing, kayaking, or other sports it’s time to store the skis for the summer.
It’s important that you properly store your skis for the summer. Skis are an expensive investment that you need to take care of. It’s easy to do and ski storage will keep your skis in tip top shape for next season. Plus, it won’t kill your ski’s camber, destroy your bases, or rust out your edges.
You can have your local shop give your skis a summer tune if they haven’t already switched over to bike mode. Or you can do it yourself. It’s simple and it doesn’t take very long.
Here’s how to store skis over the summer:
- Clean Them. – Skis take a beating over the course of a season. Bases get covered in mud, road grit melts into bindings, pine sap makes them sticky. Take your skis outside and hose them down. Rinse off all the dirt, grime, and muck. Avoid using cleaners as they can affect some of the binding grease – just use plain old H20. Brush them off with a rag and let them dry.
- Fix Your Gear. – Did you run across any major issues this winter? Maybe some that you avoided fixing? Bent buckles, lost pole baskets, funky brakes, and dirty core shots all need to be fixed now. Not next season. Resolve any of these issues now before you forget about them and click into your bindings for your first ski of next season.
- Edge Maintenance. – Sharpen your edges to remove burrs. This reduces the chances that they will rust.
- Base Maintenance. – Apply storage wax to your skis. Use an all temp wax and cover the bases and the edges to protect them over the summer. Do NOT scrape the wax off.
- Binding Maintenance. – There are different theories here, but I like to lower my DIN setting. This reduces the stress on the binding springs. Be sure to mark the binding with a piece of tape so you don’t double eject on your first turn next winter. It’s also good to lift the heel pieces on your bindings and close the toe piece on your tech fittings.
- Boot Maintenance. – The number one rule of boots is to dry them. Remove the liners and air them out. Put them on the dryer to make sure they are totally dry. You don’t want mildew or mice in your boots over the summer. Yuck. Clean off any muck from the last muddy trailhead and loosely buckle them to help them maintain their shape.
Dry Everything!
- Ski Tuning Area. – Clean up your ski tuning area. Put the base welder and waxing iron away. Remove the wax piles. Take down your ski vises. Organize your things and assess your tools.
- Take Inventory. – How are your ski tuning tools? Do you have enough wax for next year? It’s probably on sale now. What gear do you need to buy so you’re ready to rock and roll?
- Store Gear. – Keep your gear in a cool and dry place. Avoid heat and humidity at all costs. If you live in a warm climate, get them inside your house in a closet or under your bed. Don’t leave them in the garage, attic, or your Thule box. Lay them down without a ski strap on them. Some people like to keep them in plain site so they remember the winter is only a few months away.
- Start the countdown. – Summer is the hardest time of year for diehard skiers. It will snow again soon. If you need a fix head to New Zealand or Chile. Or head to the high peaks for summer turns.
Take care of your entire quiver of ski gear. The better you treat your things the longer they will last and the safer you will be. Enjoy the summer and spend as much time in the mountains as possible.
